A church youth group hosted a culture day on Independence Day to remember the contribution and sacrifice of Samoa's forefathers for their freedom.

The youth of the New Methodist Church at Vaitele-fou begun their events with a flag raising ceremony on Wednesday morning to join the rest of the nation in marking the country's 60^th independence anniversary. 

The theme for the event was “E mai le Atua le gagana” which means "the language is from God".

According to Reverend Fonofaavae Sootaga, the importance of the event is to revive Samoan culture through activities promoting how to speak the language or Samoan food preparation.

“We decided to host an event that will help the youth or younger generation understand and learn the skills that pertain to their culture,” he told Samoa Observer. 

“The preparation for the youth program took around three weeks. Our church members have gathered to support this initiative for the youths.” 

He added that more than 60 youth members are taking part in the event. 

“Our culture and language is our identity, it is what makes us different from the whole world.”

With Samoa's rapid modernisation, Rev. Sootaga said this has led to some of the village's young population losing a part of their culture or identity.

“The event becoming a reality all depended on the COVID-19 restrictions and now that it has been lifted, we are able to gather and celebrate.”

Rev. Sootaga also said that the celebration of Independence Day is special to the people of Samoa.

“We want our children and the youths to understand that Samoa gaining independence was not easy and it required a lot of sacrifices from our ancestors.

“Our forefathers paved the way for us to live in a free nation; this is why we never forget how we overcame all obstacles to be an independent country.

“It is sad to see that we could not celebrate this year like how we usually do, I guess the importance has been given more for the Teuila festival while the independence is not as significant.”        

He added that the younger generation remember their roots or where they came from and sharing cultural practices and the language is one way of doing this. 

“Overall our congregation is made up of over 200 people.”